With infrastucture razed to ground, farewell to horse riding classes behind Sukhna Lake

There are countless serving and retired bureaucrats, defense officers and politicians, who tried their hands at horse riding here, a sport quite popular among the elite. Over the years, CHRS has also become the first choice of movie makers, especially from Pollywood, an industry that hires horses from CHRS for their films.

General secretary of CHRS, J S Toor, says, “In 2004, half a dozen of our horses were used in shooting of an English documentary, which focused on warfare in ancient times. Punjabi movie stars also visited here to get training for riding scenes in their movies.”

Birpal Singh (25) a law student from PU, says, “Nobody can match the CHRC, particularly in Northern India. The society charges Rs 4,200 from a trainee, which is the cheapest. You go to any horse riding club in metro cities or any other place, the minimum fees is around Rs 21,000. I have been associated with the society since six years. In 2017, I participated in Ten Pegging Junior International Championship, held in Noida. I was awarded ‘best rider’ prize. I have my best memories with this society.”

Another rider, Mankirat Singh (25), son of Khanna MLA Gurkirat Singh Kotli, says, “I came to know about CHRC in 2003. I spent most of the my morning and evenings learning horse riding skills here. I can’t explain my emotions. My heart is about to cry. It was a fascinating place. The society made me a perfect rider. I even won a gold medal in Eventing competition held in Delhi in 2017.”

Trainer Om Parkash, associated with the society since 2009, says, “I spent 30 years in the army and dedicated them to training horses of different breed. There is a potential of making of good riders in Chandigarh. Young riders, who trained at CHRS, defeated riders of Chandigarh Police and Indian Army once in 2015! Even, in recently concluded first Military Literature Festival (MLF), our riders presented excellent performance of ten pegging, while holding swords in their mouths.”

Om Parkash, a native of Rajasthan, asserts, “If we will not use these horses for a long time, they will become useless and that’s what I fear the most.” After being taken away from behind the Sukhna Lake, the Thoroughbred horses were kept in the stud of 82 Battalion of Punjab Police near Punjab Secretariat.

Thoroughbred horses are considered “hot-blooded”, known for their agility, speed and spirit. CHRS and UT Administration were into a debate over came the issue of lease agreement, which collapsed in 2006. UT Administration had issued many eviction notices since then. CHRS went to the district courts of Chandigarh and Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered in favour of UT Administration and issued orders of eviction. A bulldozer of enforcement wing razed the structures here on March 1.

Joint Secretary, CHRS, S S Bala, says, “I don’t want to make any comment on the ongoing legal battle between our society and the UT Administration as the matter is sub-judice. We did everything to take this society at top level. It had become a major attraction and charm of the city.”